The purpose of nursing care is to promote and maintain health in response to current or potential health problems. A central issue in the nursing care for older adults is to maintain and promote functional health required for maintaining independence in mobility and activities of daily living and minimizing the risk of injury and disability. The effects of aging and frequently occurring chronic disease place these individuals at risk for deterioration in functional health that may limit the elderly's ability to function independently and place them at risk for disability. However, many of the changes in functional capacities now thought to be age related may be the result of a sedentary life style. According to the disuse and disease model, exercise can reverse the adverse effects of disuse among elderly adults and improve functional capacities required for functional health. There is beginning support that aerobic exercise improves functional capacities, particularly cardiovascular function, and general well-being. However, the majority of this research has been done with young and middle-aged adults. The effects of exercise among older adults is just beginning to be examined more fully, and little has been done to determine whether aerobic exercise can improve the functional capacities of older adults. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the effects of walking, as a nursing intervention, on some functional capacities (postural stability, muscle strength, flexibility and reaction and movement times), which are thought to be required for functional health. To accomplish this aim, a pretest-posttest experimental design will be used with random assignment to two groups. Ninety persons 65 years of age and older will participate in a 12 week walking program while another 90 elderly maintain their usual activities during this time. Experimental subjects will walk 3 times a week for 30 minutes, and nurses will monitor subjects. Warm up and cool down exercises of stretching will respectively precede and follow the 30 minutes of walking. Using heart rate, the pace of walking will be adjusted to maintain a specific aerobic intensity known to be associated with physiologic changes. Multivariate and univariate analyses will be used to evaluate the effects of walking, a frequently used nursing intervention, to promote functional health among older adults.